


Instructions Lead To

by ireallyshouldnt_behere



Series: These Girls Are Famous [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 04:09:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8272243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ireallyshouldnt_behere/pseuds/ireallyshouldnt_behere
Summary: To say that Rey's excitement was palpable would be an understatement. Jess was just happy that they were finally on the plane.





	

To say that Rey's excitement was palpable would be an understatement. For the past month, any downtime the girl had was spent planning for her and Jess's trip to California. From each different amusement park they were going to down to some restaurants they had gotten recommendations to try. 

 

Jess was just happy that they were finally on the plane. She loves Rey, she really does, but Jess has always been a 'let's just fly there and figure it out later' type of person so sitting around and watching Rey nearly micromanage their trip had been tough, mostly. The girl's differences in planning strategies had actually caused their first 'fight,' if you would say. 'Fight' meaning Jess said something stupid and Rey doesn't like confrontation so she hides. 

 

/ 

 

Jess had been cranky all day, not wanting to leave their warm apartment to record yet another talk show, like honestly why do they film them so early? But to Jess, having to traipse out into subfreezing temperatures, two days before Christmas, when she could be curled up at home with Rey by her side to keep her warm, was not on her bucket list. 

 

She was also cranky because there seemed to be a small armada attacking her uterus, but whatever.  _Doesn't my body know I'm lesbian, like can't make babies._  Jess thinks every month.  _Do we have to do this each month?_ Every month, same answer.  _Fuck you,_ her body would reply. Little asshole _._  


 

Rey was talking about a place she wanted to stop at on their drive from up north where they are starting before reaching their final destination. 

 

"It's called 'Rolling Pin' and it's in a city called Camarillo," Rey said over her coffee and iPad, looking up suggestions of where to go. "Apparently they're the best donuts and -"

 

"Rey," Jess said with an exasperated sigh, running her hands over her face, "can we just have five minutes of not planning something?"

 

"I-I'm sorry," Rey began with a stammer, causing Jess to look up and see how hurt Rey looked by what she had said.  _Fuck_. "I'm just excited, I've never done any of this before," and with not even finishing her coffee, Rey left the table. 

 

  
_I am such an asshole,_  Jess thinks. Here's this perfect, sweet girl who has never been on vacation besides the week they spent in Italy. This girl that had the toughest childhood anyone could imagine, but still came out a proper and decent human being when it all could have gone very wrong. All Rey wanted was to have fun, to see the world, and to do it all with Jess. 

 

Jess, who has taken everything she was raised with for granted up until now, when she gets another sliver of detail from her girlfriend's childhood, is being a total dick. She was raised in LA, could go to Disneyland whenever she wanted, has done all the touristy things possible. Her parents took her on vacations and did the family sightseeing adventures. She feels like utter shit now because Rey got absolutely none of that. Rey has the chance for it all right now and Jess just shut her down like people get this opportunity all the time. No, Jess was going to make this the best trip ever for Rey, damn it. 

 

So she went searching for the girl, not finding her in their bedroom, but in the spare, under heaps of blankets which is reminiscent of Rey's birthday night. Smiling, even though she knows that she's an ass, she repeats what she said that night. 

 

"Should I get the excavation team to find you?"

 

She hears a huffed, slightly watery laugh.  _Well that's a better sign than last time_. She starts to take off all of the sheets, this time Rey is pushing them back as well, and smiles when she finds the mussy haired girl, eyes watery and pouting. 

 

"Rey, I'm so sorry," Jess said as she pushed hair out of the girl's face. God she's beautiful, Jess is so lucky. How could she ever not be happy because Rey's excited about something?

 

"Well first off, and it's not an excuse for shutting you down the way I did," Jess says as she pulls Rey onto her lap, "but you know how moody I get when I'm pmsing, so I'm sorry."

 

Rey just burrows into Jess's neck, her safe haven. Jess runs her fingers through the girl's hair for a little while, just soaking in how easy their touch is, before continuing on. 

 

"I'm just a lot more use to vacations and going with the flow of things that I forgot that you've never been able to plan for something like this."

 

Rey maneuvers to sit more face to face with Jess, but still in her lap, knees bracketing Jess's hips, face in the girl's neck.  _Oh my sweet, sweet girl_ , Jess thinks. Rey never had anyone to hold her like this when she was sad, not that she remembers anyway. So Jess holds her, running her hands up and down the girl's back. 

 

"Whatever you want to do, Rey, we'll do it," Jess finishes with a kiss on the top of the girl's head. 

 

Rey just squeezes Jess, snuggling deeper into the embrace. "I'm sorry too," Rey muffles into Jess's neck, "I get a little overbearing when I'm excited. I'm sorry for running away here, too." 

 

"I have some fond memories of the last time you came to this room to run away, though," Jess says with a smirk earning an actual laugh this time, Rey leaning back to look at her. 

 

"Me too," Rey says with a wink. "I'm on my period too though, and I get emotional, so I ran." 

 

"My aren't we a pair," Jess says with a laugh. 

 

"Yes," Rey replies, kissing Jess all over her perfect face, "yes we are."

 

/

 

The girls were beginning their just-over-two week trip at a cabin in Lake Tahoe. Although New York does get snow, and it's beautiful, there's nothing like Tahoe in the winter. Driving up to certain lookout points and seeing the serene, untouched snow-covered mountains with pine trees for as far as the eyes could see was something they couldn't find in the big city. Growing up, Jess's annual family vacations to Tahoe had been amongst her favorites and she wanted to share that with Rey. She wanted to share everything with Rey. This whole trip is to show Rey the life that she had grown up with, right down to the very end where they're going to visit Jess's family. 

 

It's been a long time, a very long time since Jess has brought anyone home. Since moving to New York, she hasn't really had a relationship past casual sex, and she wasn't going to bring those home, so there it was. Rey though, Rey was special. Jess wanted Rey to meet her family before they had even gotten together. Jess had planned this whole trip while they were still friends, but now that they're more, it's going to be even better. It's going to be amazing. 

 

But currently, it's fucking cold. 

 

"Jess, I want to go sledding," Rey says with a pout. Rey has been obsessed with sledding since her birthday, always dragging Jess to a new hill she heard about. Not that Jess minded at all, she absolutely adored seeing how much fun Rey had and figured the girl deserved it since she never got to do anything like it as a kid. A few mornings since Rey's birthday Jess had even woken up early, gotten everything ready, and pounced on a sleeping Rey to wake her up so they could get to the hills before everyone else and get the fresh powder that had fallen overnight. 

 

Right now though? They had just gotten to their cabin after a red-eye flight, 3 hour drive from Reno because of road conditions, and Jess just wanted to cuddle and nap. 

 

Jess just wraps her arms around Rey's neck and slumps into the pouting girl. She's cute and all, real fucking cute, especially with the pout, but she will be cute still in an hour after they nap. "Come take a nap with me," Jess tries to persuade as she tugs Rey backwards towards the couch. "The snow will still be there in an hour."

 

"Your naps are minimum 3 hours, Jessika," Rey says dryly. And ok, she's right, and Jess just got 'Jessika'd' so maybe there isn't much argument. 

 

"Fine," Jess says as she throws her hands in the air in defeat, "let's go sledding."

 

It's so worth it for the giant smile and happy dance Rey does. God this girl is fucking cute. Jess would never nap again to see that smile on her girlfriends face, and Jess lives for naps. Rey is so worth it. 

 

Their three-ish days in Tahoe went by in a deliciously lazy manner. Much like they did on the first day, they would start out sledding right around their cabin having no need to go anywhere else since the hill was perfect. Then they would warm up by their fireplace with some hot cocoa and watch a movie, then before dinner they would drive into town and walk around for a bit. The girls liked checking out the local stuff and relished in the privacy of this small city and cold weather clothes that covers the majority of their faces. 

 

It's not like they've kept their relationship a secret from the media or anything, but they're both just not big at all on PDA so no one has really caught on yet. Being able to bundle up though and 'cuddle for warmth' in public without having to fear the paparazzi was amazing. 

 

After their little outings, they would return to the cabin and cook dinner while the sun set. By god did Tahoe have the most gorgeous sunsets. Watching the blue skies turn violent shades of pink, orange, and purple was the girl's favorite part of the day. They would let dinner cook in the oven while they cuddled on the balcony, basking in the frozen air and watch the changing colors of the sky light up each other's radiant faces. It felt all so domestic, so perfect, so right. It was bliss. 

 

They could have stayed there, in their cabin, blissed out of their minds for the two weeks, but they had plans. Well, Rey had plans and Jess followed Rey. 

 

They left Tahoe after lunch on their third day knowing that the drive to San Francisco was going to suck ass, but it was going to be beautiful driving into the city at night. There's not much that either of them wanted to do in SF besides just go there to see it. Jess had been there multiple times and Rey just felt like it was another big city. 

 

They stayed in San Francisco for a day, then drove down the coast, stopping at the major tourist areas like Big Sur and San Louis Obispo. It took a week for them to hit all the stops. Including Camarillo and that damn donut shop Rey wanted to go to which Jess had to admit was worth it because fresh fucking donuts at 3am were a damn godsend. 

 

Their first amusement park was Six Flags, and it was amazing. Rey had never been on a roller coaster before and she lost her voice by the end of the day she screamed so much. The girls ate sickening amounts of funnel cake and drank expensive water all day and it was so worth it. By the time they left the park though, Rey was practically shaking with excitement. They weren't staying in Valencia, where Six Flags is, tonight. They were driving to Universal City so they could get to Harry Potter World right when it opened.  

 

Jess was woken up by a fully dressed and ready-to-go-right-now Rey at 6:30am. It was way too early for this and their bed is way too comfortable right now. 

 

"Rey Walker," Jess sighs, "the park doesn't even open until 9."

 

"Yes, but we need breakfast and there might be traffic," countered Rey excitedly, slightly bouncing on her knees next to Jess, Hufflepuff scarf swaying into the  _shouldstillbesleeping_  girl's face. 

 

"Call room service," Jess says with a groaning stretch, "and it won't take two hours to go ten miles."

 

"There's room service this early?" Rey asks curiously. Oh this sweet girl who doesn't know much about luxury. There hadn't been many 5-star hotels to stay at on their drive down the coast, not that the girl's are into extravagance or anything, but Jess decided to go big for this leg of the trip since they're only here two nights. Jess was going to give her girl the best of the best for her birthday trip. 

 

"It's a Ritz-Carlton, Rey," Jess says sweetly as she sits up to turn on the bedside lamp, filling the room with a little more light than she would like right now. "I'm pretty sure they would go find you a puppy at 1am if you asked."

 

"Oh," Rey replies with a contemplative gaze. "Ok I guess we can do that. What do you want for breakfast?"

 

"You."

 

"Jessika," Rey huffs huskily. _That's_  


  
_more like it._  

 

"How about I order us some breakfast," Jess suggests as she crawls seductively towards Rey, stopping right before their lips meet. "And then I want to see how many times I can make you come before it gets here, how's that sound?"

 

Rey's eyes go dark and she starts breathing harder. "Yes," is all she can croak out. Jess gives her a wicked grin and plants a quick, sloppy kiss to her mouth before standing up and grabbing the room service menu. She picks up the phone and indicates for Rey to stand up and come to her, and Rey obeys immediately. 

 

Jess begins to take off Rey's scarf, eyes never leaving hers, before anyone picks up on the other line. Rey hears a muffled voice through the phone as Jess is unzipping her jacket. 

 

"Hello, I would like to order breakfast, please," Jess says as she slides the jacket off Rey's arms, moving to the hem of the girl's shirt and beginning to lift it up. 

 

"Yes, we would like coffee," tank top comes off. 

 

"Tea and half n half," pants button undone, Jess drops to her knees. 

 

"Two pancake breakfasts," Jess slides the pants off, running her hands tantalizingly over the bare skin as Rey gasps. Rising back to her feet, she wraps a hand around Rey's back. 

 

"And two bowls of fruit, please," bra comes off. Jess steps back to hang up the phone with a thanks to the room service. 

 

She turns back around, takes the three steps to Rey, picks her up, and carries her to the bed. Sitting down with Rey on her lap, Jess brings both her hands to the girl's cheeks, brushes some hair out of her face, and kisses her way more tenderly than Rey was expecting. Jess's lips never leave Rey's as her hands begin a slow, soft decent down her neck, over her shoulders, down her back, up her sides, over her breasts, down her stomach, until they reach their final destination. 

 

The soft touch and tender kiss has left Rey's need blistering, so the moment Jess's fingers begin to palm her over her panties that didn't get removed, she bucks forward with a gasp as her first orgasm slams into her without warning. 

 

Jess rubs her through her aftershocks, lips dragging sweetly across her jaw and neck, coming to lick and suck that sweet spot in her collarbone, resulting in another unexpected orgasm. 

 

"Oh-h, Jess," Rey shudders as Jess stands up, lays her down on the bed, and removes her panties in one swift motion. Jess climbs on top of her and claims her lips again with that sweet kiss. 

 

Rey has learned quite a bit about sex this past month they've been together. They have sex, they fuck, they use toys, they don't use toys, but they also make love, and god is that something. Every single part about sex has been amazing with Jess, to learn everything, Rey can't get enough of it. But when they make love? It's indescribable. Slow, achingly sweet, passionate; they commune with each other through their bodies and their love for one another until they're soaked in sweat and their muscles are tight from all of the orgasms. 

 

This morning? Jess was making love to her and holy hell did it make her forget about Harry Potter real quick. She figured Jess would be speedy with her ministrations, wanting to wring out many orgasms and all, but Rey was so happily wrong. Jess was slow and meticulous, not leaving behind one single sensitive spot she knew of on Rey's body to feel like it had been forgotten. This alone aided in bringing Rey to her sixth orgasm as a knock came to the door. 

 

Jess, still fully clothed, climbed back up from in between Rey's legs and gave her a deep kiss. "My girl," Jess said, full of love and adoration that makes Rey choke up every time, and kissed her again before getting up to answer the door. 

 

Rey is grateful in the moment also that Jess got them the biggest suite as they could shut the door to their room so no one at the door could see inside. A completely naked and sated Rey Walker would be an interesting sight at 7am. 

 

/

 

Rey was a hot fucking mess, to be frank. She was alternating, at no structured timeframe, between crying of joy, screaming in excitement, and being in silent, reverent awe. That was all within the first 45 seconds of walking into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. 

 

They didn't even go into Universal Studios, opting to walk around aimlessly, arm and arm, through the streets of Diagon Alley, sipping butterbeer and making too many stops at Honeydukes. Rey had cried for a solid 10 minutes when Jess had dragged her into Ollivanders and got her her wand. 

 

The park was closing soon, their arms were loaded with a disgusting amount of merchandise that they didn't really need, but Jess can't say no to Harry Potter, or Rey. Speaking of Rey, she was literally dragging her feet, trying to stay for as long as she could. 

 

"Rey," Jess said soothingly, it's been an emotional day for her girl so she needs to heed caution with her words. "They're closing down Rey, we have to go."

 

Rey stopped and looked softly at Jess, and then turned to get one last look at the castle, all lit up for the night, looking perfect in this gloomy weather. Jess watches Rey look at the castle, and has another moment that will forever be engrained in her brain of this sweet girl. Rey's face is lit up in a soft, yellow light and she looks the perfect mixture of awe, happiness, and longing. Taking a deep breath, Rey turns and takes Jess's hand silently, and they walk out together. 

 

"We will come back, Rey," Jess said once they got back to their car. "We can go to Florida, too."

 

"I don't like alligators," Rey replies with a laughing sniffle.  _Oh my girl, don't cry._  

 

/

 

Since Disneyland had more for them to explore, they were staying there a few days. And to get the full experience, they got a room, the best because Jess is spendy this trip, in the Grand California Hotel, which is amazing. 

 

The first day they switch back and forth between parks, chasing shorter lines and trying to hit the best rides during different times. Since Jess was an avid Disney-goer before she moved to NY, she knew how to work her way around the place. They walked around with their cute backpacks, Rey calling herself 'Rey Skywalker' since she had Yoda. They met Mickey and Minnie and all of the princesses, shared the most amazing caramel apple ever, and snuggled close as they watched the fireworks at the end of the night. 

 

The next day went by much in the same fashion. They ate breakfast with Minnie and friends, trudged around Star Wars land for longer than they probably should have, but instead of watching the fireworks inside the park, they watched them from their bed. 'Watching' in this instance means that they opened their balcony to let in the sounds of the fireworks while they rocked against each other into oblivion, the sounds of the finale covering up their screams of ecstasy.

 

The next morning they were lazy. After some slow, good morning sex they ordered room service and snuggled naked while eating. After eating they wrung out a few more soft orgasms from each other before packing up and going into the park for a little bit. 

 

It was around 4 when the girls finally decided to leave the park. It wasn't that far to Jess's parents house, but if they wanted to get there before nightfall they needed to skip the traffic that was inevitable at this time of day. 

 

Rey was decently nervous about meeting Jess's family. They seemed amazing from all of the stories she has heard from Jess over this past year, and they raised this amazingly perfect girl so how could they be bad, but still. Rey was so in love with Jess, but what if the girl's family didn't like her? This random girl, is she good enough for their daughter? Jess had assured Rey over and over that her parents were going to love her, but nothing could be promised until she had met them all. 

 

And then Rey met them, and it was amazing. They welcomed her in with open arms and she felt…home. They had sat around the table after dinner for hours talking until Jess's dad finally realized it was nearing 2am and they should probably all get to sleep. The girls still had to get to their hotel and get checked in. 

 

In the morning they had grabbed some coffee, tea, and pastries and walked along the chilly beach. Even though it was winter it was still nice to walk, toes crunching in the morning sand, and smell the sea breeze flowing around them. After the beach they headed into town to meet with Jess's mom for lunch and casual shopping before going back to the Pava house just to hang out. 

 

It was a nice, lazy day of the girl's and Jess's brother, Josh, playing board games, watching movies, and drinking hard cocoa by the fire. A perfect way to spend the end of their trip. It also helped that Jess's mom, Jen as she had told Rey to call her, was making fettuccini alfredo. Rey was pumped, she fucking loves alfredo. 

 

"Hey Jess," Jen had called from the kitchen, "your Uncle Ray is in town so he's going to stop by for dinner if that's alright?"

 

Jess positively squealed. "Oh my god yes! It's been years since I've seen him!" 

 

"Are you sure, I know that it's yours and Rey's last night so I didn't know…"

 

Rey already loves Jess's family so she couldn't see why adding an the girl's uncle to the mix would be a problem. She's having so much fun and they way Jess had squealed queued Rey into deciding that Uncle Ray was awesome. Well he had to be, they had the same name. 

 

"Oh, Rey, you'll love him," Jess says as she goes back to playing with the girl's hair. "He's the coolest guy ever. He's a national firefighter so he's always traveling all over the states. It was so fun when he would come and visit and bring his gear and dress us up. Man I miss him."

 

"Why has it been so long since you've seen him?" Rey asked. If Jess loved him so much, why didn't they visit? True, Jess has had a pretty busy life these past few years since she moved to New York, she barely gets to come home and visit her parents let alone an uncle. Jess didn't even get to visit her family when her and Rey were in LA last year for Ellen. It hurts her to think about Jess not being able to see her family, she knows how deeply the girl loves them all. It almost makes Rey glad that she didn't have anyone to care about or to care about her so she never had to feel that pain. 

 

"Well he travels so much," Jess replies with a sigh, "he hardly visited at all growing up, but when he did it was great." Jess goes silent, most likely thinking back on all her fond memories of her uncle. 

 

"I can't wait to meet him," Rey says sweetly, earning a wet kiss on the cheek from Jess. 

 

Rey had just finished braiding Jess's hair when there was a knock at the front door. She heard some muffled voices of greeting and then a voice broke through it all.  _That_  voice. 

 

"Jessie?," the mans voice called, "where's my favorite niece?"

 

Rey knew that voice. Rey could  _never_  forget that voice, even from so long ago. Frozen solid half way standing off the couch she wonders if this is real life, if this is possible. 

 

"Coming, Uncle Ray!" Jess called out before she turned to her Rey, who was completely still and looking like a deer in headlights. "Rey…Rey what's wrong?" Jess starts as she takes a step towards Rey, but stops when she hears the gasp from behind her. Turning, she sees her Uncle Ray wearing the same expression that her Rey is wearing. What the hell is going on? 

 

Jess turns back to Rey who now has her hand over her mouth and tears are running down her eyes. She looks back and forth between Uncle Ray and Rey, confused out of her fucking mind. Then her Uncle finally talks. 

 

"My little Rey of sunshine," he says with a shakey voice, holding out a hand to the girl, "I can't believe this."

 

Rey just sobs and launches herself into his arms. The arms that held her small, frail body as the doctors examined her, ran tests on her, bathed her. The arms that she was ripped out of 20 years ago when she had to be taken by child protective services. 

 

As Jess hears both her Uncle and Rey sobbing, wrapped in a fierce embrace, pieces slowly slip into place. It was rare for Rey to speak of what happened when she was found all those years ago, she didn't think it mattered much, but Jess liked to push. Rey had told her how they found "Walker" written on her tshirt tag, but nothing else on her to indicate who she was or where she came from. She had latched onto the man that found her, he was so sweet and gentle. 

 

He had told her she could be anyone she wanted to be, and she wanted to be like him. She decided she would be Ray also and he liked it. "That's a good name," he had agreed. "Let's spell it with an 'e' though, so you're just a bit different. What do you think, my little Rey of sunshine?" Rey never went further than that in her story, it was always too painful. He was the sweetest man she had ever known, or remembered, in her whole life until Finn came along. She would have searched for him too but 'Ray the firefighter' was actually extremely common. 

 

That's why Jess had never even thought that her uncle could have been the Ray that her Rey was named after. Turns out she was very wrong. 

 

"Does anyone know what's going on right now?" Jen asked, utterly bewildered by the fact that her daughter's girlfriend is fiercely hugging her brother-in-law, a man she seemingly had never met. This finally broke through the sobbing pair's reunion and they parted, wiping eyes and sniffling. 

 

"I think we should sit at the table and have a talk," Ray declared, looking around to his family who all nodded. They all wanted answers. 

 

Jess took Rey's hand and they sat down at the dining room table, never letting go of one another. She could feel how utterly shocked Rey was right now and she thinks that they both need the hold on each other to stay grounded. 

 

Surprisingly enough, it's her Rey who starts the story. 

 

"I'm not sure how much Jess has told you about me," she begins with a squeeze to Jess's hand. Jess wasn't much for telling people Rey's life story, so she kept most information to a minimum. "But I don't remember anything before I was five. The first thing I remember is walking up to a fire station and a man kneeling down to see if I was ok." Rey smiled at Ray and reached over to grab his hand with her empty one. She needed to hold him as much as she needed Jess. 

 

"I didn't know my name, where I was, nothing. All they found was 'Walker' written on my shirt tag, but that doesn't even mean that's my last name. Ray told me I could be anyone I wanted," Rey paused and sniffled a little bit. This was the longest Jess had ever heard her talk about her past. She usually just says things offhandedly and not in full sentences like this. 

 

"I wanted to be like him, I wanted to be Ray too. So when they came for me-" she finally stops, the memory now too painful for her to continue. Ray steps up in her wake though, since he's got a lot more to tell her anyway. 

 

He tells them all how Rey had latched onto him, as is what usually happens when a child goes through a traumatic experience, they get attached to one of the first people they feel comfortable with. Since it was him, they let him stay with her through every test they had to do. The doctors determined that she was around 5 years old and luckily she was perfectly healthy except for dehydration and mild hypothermia. He sat with her while they did all the paperwork, creating her identity of 'Rey Walker,' birthday unknown so they used that day, parents unknown, everything unknown. It had all gone quite smoothly until they had to take her away and put her into a temporary home. 

 

It had destroyed him, watching his little Rey of sunshine fight against the child protective services workers. All he wanted to do was wrap her up in a blanket and keep her safe, but the law is the law. 

 

"How come you never told us this?" Jen asked during the pause in his story he had taken, too shaken up from the memory of the tiny girl fighting so hard against those adults. 

 

"It hurt too much," Ray said as he dropped his head. "It's one thing to find infants, which happens quiet often, but to find a child that can speak and has a personality? I just, I looked at her and I saw my Jessie, they were the same age and everything, and I couldn't imagine her being alone."

 

Jess squeezes Rey's hand so hard at that. She remembers how much she loved her Uncle at 5 and she imagines what she would have done if she was taken from him or anyone else she loved. She would have fought too.  _Oh my girl._  


 

"I got attached too quickly," he continued on, "and it fucked me up pretty bad when they took you away, Rey. I felt so guilty for so long. I knew the horror stories of what could happen to kids in the foster system, so I tried to find you." 

 

Rey squeezed Jess's hand so hard right back at that, she thinks her blood might be cut off, but that's ok, Rey needs it. She can do it. Deer in the headlights again, Rey starts shaking. 

 

"I became a foster parent and filled out everything I needed to adopt, and for 13 years I looked for you. No one would help me, they weren't allowed to give out information in case I wanted to find you to hurt you. I didn't know what else to do. I never gave up, though. When you turned 18 though, I figured I missed my chance, and by then I didn't know if you would even remember me. So these last 6 years I've thrown myself into work to try and not think about how much I fucked up, what I could have done differently so I could have kept you. Kept you safe, given you the love you deserved."

 

They were all silent after that long-winded confession. Rey's mind was reeling. She never thought she would ever see Ray again, let alone have him tell her he's been looking for her the whole time. 

 

"Can I just say," Josh broke in through the silence, "that what are the fucking odds? Like honestly."

 

"I'm every bit as shocked as you, kid," Ray replied with the winning smile that she remembers. Jess must have gotten that smile trait from him. Speaking of Jess though…

 

"You know, Ray," Rey begins with a sly smile, "while I never really liked the foster system, I'm kind of glad you didn't adopt me."

 

"Why?" Ray asks, slightly hurt. 

 

"If you had," Rey replies with a grin, "then Jess and I would be cousins, and that would be really weird." 

 

She hears Jess gasp next to her and turns to see the girl covering her mouth, trying not to laugh. 

 

"Oh my god," Jess says, nearly mortified, "I hadn't even thought of that!"

 

"Well, girlfriends or cousins," Ray says with an approving nod to the girls, "you're here now, and I couldn't have asked for better for either of you."

 

The rest of the evening moves along amiably, telling stories and talking about sweet nothings all night. It was nearly 2am again when the girls began to leave. 

 

"Uncle Ray you need to come visit us in New York or something, maybe call more?" 

 

"Oh Jessie," Ray says with a tired sigh, "you know I'm not good with technology and all that."

 

"Yea well maybe if you had," Jess replies with a pointed finger at her Uncle, "you could have googled Rey and found her a lot sooner." 

 

"Don't dwell in the past, sweetheart, she's here now." At this, Ray wraps his little Rey into a tight embrace, trying to make up for 20 years of missed hugs. "I'm so glad I finally found you, Rey. I'm so glad you have my Jessie. My two girls, I love you so much."

 

Rey can't even say anything she's so choked up, but Ray understands. They'll see each other again, now that they've found each other. He presses a kiss to her forehead and one to Jess's before they walk out the door. 

 

They drive back to the hotel silently. Jess can tell Rey needs some time to think about this on her own, unlike it all being thrust on her like it was earlier. They showered together, loving the easy touch of washing each other's hair and body, placing quick kisses on certain points, just for the sake of love and happiness. 

 

Once they were both dressed, Jess hopped onto the bed, sitting against the headboard, and patted her lap to tell Rey it was ok to sit there. 

 

Rey climbed into Jess's lap and assumed the childlike position that Jess knew Rey craved when she needed comforting. Knees on either side of Jess hips, arms around her waist, and face in her neck, Rey just squeezed and began to cry. 

 

She cried for the so many things she sat and thought of over this day, about this year, about her life. For not knowing who or where her birth parents were. For loosing Ray and for finding him. For all the shitty years in foster care. For becoming who she wanted to be. For meeting, getting to know, getting to love Jess. Rey cried for all the times she wouldn't let herself cry growing up. Back then she needed to be strong, but right now, with Jess holding on so tight, so lovingly, she could break for a little. She knew she would have her love to put her back into the right pieces. 

 

They fell asleep like that, completely huddled together in the middle of the bed, not even talking once. Rey woke up first and leaned back far enough to look over the sleeping Jess. Feeling the movement and loss of heat on her chest, Jess blinked open her confused eyes to see Rey smiling sweetly at her. 

 

"Hi," Jess says through a yawn, smiling when Rey's smile grows wider. 

 

"Hi," Rey replies, running both hands down Jess's arms and grabbing her hands. "So I was thinking-"

 

"I like when you think," Jess admits during the pause, she  _really_  likes when Rey thinks, especially when she's got that smile. Jess thinks she knows right where this is headed and she can't complain. 

 

Rey hums and lifts Jess's hands over her head to hold onto the headboard. "I'm really glad we aren't cousins," Rey whispers, lips ghosting along Jess's. 

 

"Me too," Jess groans and closes the gap. 

 

The sex that morning was one for the history books, really. 


End file.
